Baby Carter at 10 weeks

We are obviously very excited about our little one and can't get enough information about what is going on with our baby THIS week, every week! I decided that we will occasionally, perhaps monthly, give everyone an update of what is going on with our baby on individual weeks, just to keep you posted! If any of you would like a weekly update, email me and I'll put you on my "weekly" update list.

The following is from babycenter.com , a very informative website when you're pregnant!

Your Baby at 10 Weeks

How your baby's growing: Though he's barely the size of a kumquat — a little over an inch or so long, crown to bottom — and weighs less than a quarter of an ounce, your baby has now completed the most critical portion of his development. This is the beginning of the so-called fetal period, a time when the tissues and organs in his body rapidly grow and mature. He's swallowing fluid and kicking up a storm. Vital organs — including his kidneys, intestines, brain, and liver (now making red blood cells in place of the disappearing yolk sac) — are in place and starting to function, though they'll continue to develop throughout your pregnancy.If you could take a peek inside your womb, you'd spot minute details, like tiny nails forming on fingers and toes (no more webbing) and peach-fuzz hair beginning to grow on tender skin. In other developments: Your baby's limbs can bend now. His hands are flexed at the wrist and meet over his heart, and his feet may be long enough to meet in front of his body. The outline of his spine is clearly visible through translucent skin, and spinal nerves are beginning to stretch out from his spinal cord. Your baby's forehead temporarily bulges with his developing brain and sits very high on his head, which measures half the length of his body. From crown to rump, he's about 1 1/4 inches long. In the coming weeks, your baby will again double in size — to nearly 3 inches.

10 weeks Appointment

Yesterday Chris and I had our 10 weeks appointment to check on Baby Carter. Naturally, since I can't feel the baby dancing around yet, I was really looking forward to looking in on the little one and getting the reassurance that it was alive and thriving!

Everything checked out just fine so you all can breathe easily! I was 10w1d at my appointment and before the Dr. pulled out the Doppler, she warned me that we might not be able to find the heartbeat since 10 weeks is typically the earliest that they even try to find the heartbeat via Doppler. She quickly told me not to worry, that even if we couldn't find it she would send me over for an ultrasound to check Baby out.

Part of me was secretly hoping to get another ultrasound in, but I knew that if we weren't able to find the heartbeat I would probably panic until I saw it on the ultrasound screen! Fortunately, Dr. G was able to find the heartbeat fairly quickly with the Doppler... the most beautiful sound ever!

The appointment was at 2:00, so Chris and I had lunch together before we went to our appointment. Per the Dr., I am allowed to have 1 caffeinated drink a day. Some days I drink it, some days I don't. Yesterday was a day when I indulged. With lunch I had a sweet tea, my favorite. They didn't have decaf and I am getting pretty tired of Sprite all the time so I went for it!

Baby's heartbeat reflected the caffeine/sugar that I had recently consumed because it's heart was beating 190 beats per minute! That is really fast!! The typical heart rate for a baby at our gestation is 140-180 bpm. When Chris first heard it he said, "is it normal for it to be that fast?!", a bit concerned. My Dr. just laughed and said Baby was probably moving around a lot, "exercising", and just like all of us it's heart rate goes up when it does physical activity. This probably had something to do with the caffeine from lunch! ;-) Looks like we will have a busy baby on our hands, so I'm getting ready for all of the kicks and jabs that I will endure starting in the next few months!

We spent the rest of our appointment getting tips on how to better handle "the sickness" and then I had a bajillion vials of blood drawn... I thought they would never stop!! Don't worry, I sent my extremely squeamish husband to the reception area to wait for me, so he did just fine!;-)

What would we do without my Mom???

I truly have no idea what Chris and I would do without my Mother! I have been SO sick and really struggling just to get through the days. A good day for me in the past weeks has been successfully consuming a meal or maybe getting out of the house to pick up some food or goods for the house, and honestly these goals were rarely achieved. No ambitious agenda over here! It has just been impossible for me to even keep my housework up considering that walking, talking, or smelling strong odors(food or household cleaners) reduces me to a sick mess. Pitiful, I know! Now that I'm feeling somewhat better, I feel better about talking it!

I'm normally not much of a complainer so I've really kept just how truly sick I've been as quiet as possible. There is no need for other people to worry since there is nothing to be done. But of course, my mom knew better!!! Keeping it from my mother was impossible because she's been so wonderful since I've been pregnant. She calls all of the time to check on me, concerned about how I'm feeling. Other than taking medication, there is nothing that can be done about how I've felt so my mother just had to find another way to help.

My sweet mother, who works all week herself, spent her entire weekend at my house cleaning it from top to bottom, doing load after load of laundry, and cooking us some yummy food! How wonderful is she?? I am so lucky to have a mother that will sacrifice her time and energy to lighten my load! Just knowing that everything on my to-do list is caught up is such a relief!

***Thanks again Mother!! Chris and I appreciate your help more than you could ever know!! You have made this all so much easier on me and I am so grateful for that! You are the only one that really seems to understand... You will be a fabulous grandmother, just as you are a loving and supportive Mom. Come back soon;-)***

This morning when we woke up Mom pulled me aside and said she had something she wanted to show me. Mom is so excited about being a grandmother and sharing this with us she wrote a note that she wanted me to publish on my Blog to share with all of the people that are important in our lives. Read it below!

A Note from My Mom, aka GiGi

Hello Everyone,


Yesterday one of the most thrilling moments happened to me. I got to Trussville at about 6:30 p.m. to find my beautiful, bright-eyed daughter with a little hard bulge in her abdomen. It has been about 2 to 3 weeks since I have last been down to visit and Christina already has a small baby bump. Time seems to be flying by and our own Baby Carter will be here before we know it!

I just want to tell Sandy and Bill what a wonderful job they have done with their son. As all the female members of the Lawson family know, making babies does not come easy for us. If the saying that being sick makes healthy babies is true, Christina is going to have the healthiest baby in Trussville. She has lost 10 pounds, become very dehydrated and been so very sick over the past 2 to 3 months.

To this Mother-in-Law's great surprise, Chris called the Doctor's office to see how he could help Christina and what type of implications this could have on their baby. He has even been grocery shopping, searching so hard to find something she could just eat. I have been trying to help as often as possible, but being so far away has made it more difficult. Sometimes it seems that Chris has been burning the candle at both ends, bless his heart. He has job obligations, that are stressful enough, and then caring for Christina has been added stress, without question. He has taken it all in stride and even during all of these diversions, Chris has continued being an excellent provider for his Wife and Child.

Since the Doctor recently changed her nausea medication Christina can at least keep some food down. I wish I had the problem she has right now, that no food looks good. She struggles daily just to eat.

Mom, I want to make your day to tell you that we were looking at pictures of what their little angel looks like at ten weeks and it has already formed ten little juicy fingers. My mother cannot wait to see the Baby's sweet little fingers, it's what she is looking forward to the most. As all you grandparents know, my heart is overjoyed!

Since I have some medical connections Christina will come to Florence in a few short weeks for an ultrasound to try to determine the baby's sex. We just hope the Baby is turned the right way. No matter what sex the baby is, Pop(Jimmy) and GiGi(Renee) are both so excited and so looking forward to November.

Chris, we both want to give you a special thanks for taking such good care of our precious daughter in all of this. To both of you, thank you for welcoming me so openly and allowing me to come and share in this exciting experience with you. I have loved every minute of it. Everyone, be looking in a few weeks and maybe we will all know if we are going to have a little Mr. or a little Miss Carter.


Love you all,


GiGi(Renee)